Students completed these works whilst working from home over a Zoom lesson. They watched a slideshow together over Zoom on Van Gogh, looking closely at his sunflower paintings and discussing the elements of art and design – shape, colour, texture, line.

Students discussed why Van Gogh painted sunflowers (he painted them for his friend to bring him happiness) and the symbolic use of colour.

Most students had no art materials at home, and instead, students used whatever materials they could gather, primarily lead pencil and coloured pencils. One student only had a pen, whilst another had nothing to draw with, so he chose to take a photograph of his favourite yellow rose bush in recognition of Van Gogh (Van Gogh was inspired by the colour yellow as it represented happiness).

Students followed some simple instructions to develop their drawing, then added in their own patterns, linework and colours. The lesson took approximately 45 minutes. Students all reached a sense of achievement, and it was so lovely to see their huge smiles and pride in themselves. They adapted so well to their new online learning platform, following all instructions and implementing knowledge from the slideshow they watched on Van Gogh's work into their own. They all managed to do this independently. They expressed at the end of this session that sunflowers, too, have made them happy.